Farewell Danielle McCarthy and Christina Turner
L-R: Danielle McCarthy and Christina Turner.
In August, the Women’s Art Register bid a fond farewell to Danielle McCarthy and Christina Turner from the Committee and their respective positions of Convenor and Secretary.
While we are extremely sad to be losing the boundless passion, leadership and talent they bought to the team, we wish them both the very best with their new projects and endeavours. We can’t thank them enough for their incredible contributions over many years.
DANIELLE MCCARTHY
As we farewell Danni from the Women’s Art Register, we reflect on her contribution as a volunteer since 2017 and stewardship as W.A.R. Convenor from March 2020 to August 2023.
Danni co-led the 2018 project, The Great Divide: feminist art practice across generations and geography, with Lisa Mansfield and Caroline Phillips. She co-presented the 2018 W.A.R. panel Material Matters at Town Hall Gallery, in conjunction with This Wild Song a photographic exhibition of contemporary women artists by Illona Nelson.
Danni’s service as Convenor during a time of seismic upheaval in the Australian cultural landscape was explicitly focused on fostering a shared space of emotional safety and connection for the committee.
As a practicing visual artist and presenter, Danni has convened many local and international conferences over the past decade. Her research interests include philosophies of difference, theories of affect and the virtual, extended mind theory, and embodiment. In February this year Danni celebrated the completion of her PhD in the School of Communication and Creative Arts, Deakin University with an exhibition at Red Gallery Folding into AI.
We thank Danni for her generosity of spirit as Convenor and wish her well in her full-time role as Senior Lecturer Open Education and Digital Practice Lead at Deakin University. You can keep up with Danni’s work over on Instagram.
Danielle McCarthy, 'Entanglement', 2023, installation at RED Gallery.
CHRISTINA TURNER
As we farewell Christina from her post as W.A.R. Secretary, we acknowledge her generous volunteer contribution of over 16 years as a committee member. Giving much of this time as Treasurer, Christina oversaw significant change in technology for book-keeping, sharing her knowledge with committee members along the way.
Many W.A.R. programs have benefited from Christina’s participation. Those more recent include the 2015 AS IF: When and Now (members’ exhibition at the QV Centre); Women in Art Forum (Richmond Theaterette, 2017); W.A.R’s involvement at the Richmond Festival of Women (North Richmond Housing Estate, 2022); SAVE AS: Zine-making with the Women’s Art Register (part of the NGV’s Melbourne Now, 2023) and her contributions to the ongoing Women’s Art Register Preservation Project.
Christina is a designer-maker with 30 years experience in weave design and has been described as ‘a trailblazer in her field’ for being one of the first in Victoria to master the compu dobby loom. Christina would go on to lecture and mentor other students in this instrument; also lecturing in Computer Aided Design and Business Management at RMIT University.
In 1994 Christina co-founded the Australian Textile Design Association (ATDA), amalgamating with the Design Institute of Australia (DIA) in 1998. Christina is a committed member of the DIA and its work advancing pathways and skills within the profession, serving as a judge for the DIA 2013 Australian Graduate of the Year Awards.
As the co-founder of PLUSH! with Virginia Harrison, Christina of has been prolifically designing, weaving and producing hand-woven fabrics, soft furnishings and fashion accoutre since 1996. Their work is represented at high profile textile gallery Sturt Gallery in Mittagong NSW and is available though Craft Victoria and in select Melbourne and country boutiques.
Christina’s work has featured in three solo exhibitions and also with PLUSH!, and she has created samples for the annual fabric forecast service for the Australian Wool Board. She has recently returned from Central Australia, having studied the rock formations of the Flinders Ranges, for her next collection which is in development.
We thank Chistina for her time with us and look forward to the release of her future silk/wool blend textiles with entrancing designs. You can keep in touch with Christina at christina.lyna@gmail.com.
Christina Turner, silk/wool blend textile.
Christina Turner, Virginia Harrison and Pat Jones, fashion and accessories exhibition at Long Gallery, Montsalvat, 2018.